1. Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to the distribution of media content.
2. Information
Commercial broadcast programming on television or radio has typically been financed through corporate sponsorship. For example, such commercial broadcast programming has typically been punctuated with advertisement spots at the beginning, end or in the middle of a programming segment such as a television or radio show. Advancements in computer technology and decreasing cost of computer components such as memory have enabled widespread use of computer technology to obtain prerecorded broadcasts for playback through an audio visual system such as a personal computer. For example, services such as iTunes and the like have enabled users to download digital music and/or audio visual presentations from the Internet for a user or subscription fee; other online services have enabled video-on-demand access to such programming in a real-time environment for either a subscription or user fee or in a free-to-consumer advertisement supported environment. Also, video cassette recorders (VCRs) digital video recorders (DVRs) and related services such as TiVo have enabled convenient recording of television broadcasting for replay at a later time. Having features such as fast forward, however, these devices have enabled television viewers to bypass commercial advertisement segments during playback, thereby reducing the value of such advertisement segments to sponsors.